What I've found this year is that they're also worth keeping around during the winter.

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I usually pull these up or cut them down to a stump after the first freeze when they die, but this year I decided to leave one of the plants alone. I may have pruned a branch or two that was in the way, but for the most part left the entire plant in place -- trunk, branches, leaves, seed pods -- the whole thing.

My idea was to give the birds something to perch upon, and to add some sculptural, visual interest.

I didn't realize how much visual interest they would provide:

Not bamboo, but almost as cool.

Next year this plant won't be needed for a vertical element, nor for a place for birds to perch as the bamboo planted next to it should be large enough to provide both of those. I'll still be growing it though, and I'll leave it through the winter again too.

If you look at the first photo of this post, each spiky pod holds 4 seeds I think, and there are 15 or so pods showing in that one photo, so that's 60 seeds. The whole plant has at least 100 pods on it, so that's 400 seeds. Plus the bucketfull I have from last year.